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I want a companion device for the PS5 that acts like the gamepad from the Wii U

Grinchy

Banned
(Completely random mock-up)
BPPKdEZ.png


Imagine an awesome, big, high quality screen connected to some controls. It doesn't really have any internal hardware, so it can be thin, light, and relatively cheap. All it does is receive a video signal from your PS5 like the way the Wii U gamepad worked (extremely low latency, always connected and ready to go).

You could get some Switch-like functionality without any compromises - full PS5 power. And it would be completely optional. This is what I want and if you disagree then you aren't coming to my birthday party.
 
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Grinchy

Banned
ever hear of SmartGlass?
Yes, but this would be without any network influence (hence, like the Wii U). And, it would have its own controls so you aren't sitting there with tablet, a spotty network connection, and touchscreen nonsense.
 

soulbait

Member
Microsoft tried really hard to do this at the start of this gen, using your phone or tablet. I thought it was a cool concept, but it never really took off or worked as well as you thought it would. Looking away from the TV while playing a game just doesn't make a whole lot of since. Only thing I can see it useful for is looking at maps (able to add markers using touch screen, zooming in close to details) and reading recent picked up notes/books in an RPG like game.

What I think would work well, would be able to manage things, even when not playing the game. Examples:

A game like borderlands, able to trade loot with other players and/or organize your inventory.
In sports games, manage your team, in online leagues trade players (this may already exist, I don't play sport games online, so not sure)
Modify character creations.
Share stats easier (I loved being able to go online in Halo 2 and Halo 3 and viewing all of my recent matches and stats). More of this type.
 

Fbh

Member
But it isn't the true WiiU experience unless it's thick, looks like it's made by fishers price, has like an hour of battery life and a range that's so short you can't even get away from your own farts while playing!!!!.

Seriously though while the concept itself isn't that bad, it would probably end up costing way more than I'd be willing to pay for such a device unless it's some high quality third party device with native support on a variety of different systems (PS, Xbox, PC, etc)
 

soulbait

Member
Yes, but this would be without any network influence (hence, like the Wii U). And, it would have its own controls so you aren't sitting there with tablet, a spotty network connection, and touchscreen nonsense.


You are then adding additional hardware to the PS5 adding more cost. Also, unless a dedicated processor for this, you are taking resources away from the game for a feature not everyone would use.
 

baphomet

Member
Thankfully not going to happen.

Microsoft killed that idea dead as fuck at the beginning of the generation.
 

Grinchy

Banned

It would be like having a Switch, but instead of having a cell phone from 2015 powering your games, you have a PS5 doing it. So you can play on your TV whenever you want, or grab the sleek PS5 Pal out of the charging cradle and immediately continue your game while you spray Taco Bell diarrhea out of your asshole.

It would be awesome!
 

joe_zazen

Member
It would be like having a Switch, but instead of having a cell phone from 2015 powering your games, you have a PS5 doing it. So you can play on your TV whenever you want, or grab the sleek PS5 Pal out of the charging cradle and immediately continue your game while you spray Taco Bell diarrhea out of your asshole.

It would be awesome!

ypu are right sir. The ad hoc phone/tablet integration is always going to be worse than dedicated hardware. Wii u pad was first rate as far as lag and responsiveness went.

Switch’s killer feature is being able to play while watching something you don't really care about on the tv with the fam/so/wife/gf/etc. Be nice if ps5xsx/s could do the same.
 

Grinchy

Banned
ypu are right sir. The ad hoc phone/tablet integration is always going to be worse than dedicated hardware. Wii u pad was first rate as far as lag and responsiveness went.

Switch’s killer feature is being able to play while watching something you don't really care about on the tv with the fam/so/wife/gf/etc. Be nice if ps5xsx/s could do the same.
Exactly! The whole remote play and streaming thing sucks. It just does. Even if it kinda works well, it's not fast and it's not reliable. That's why I like the concept of a home-only handheld option like the Wii U.

And it's for those exact reasons. Lay in bed with it, someone's watching something on the TV, ect. Everything you use a Switch for, but you have a big boy PS5 streaming big boy games on a big boy screen.
 

Grinchy

Banned
You are then adding additional hardware to the PS5 adding more cost. Also, unless a dedicated processor for this, you are taking resources away from the game for a feature not everyone would use.
I don't really see any of that being an issue. The PS4 has done it since 2013. It uses its own separate video encoding/decoding hardware to stream to twitch, record gameplay, ect.

There's no reason to assume PS5 won't have an even more advanced form of this since the controller has a "create" button now and I assume Sony wants Twitch integration to be even better.

Instead of sending the video elsewhere or recording it, it just sends it over to the companion device the way the Wii U did. We're talking about something Nintendo did a long time ago, so it's not like it's some massive hardware challenge.
 

n0razi

Member
Im pretty sure a few games supported Vita as a auxiliary display:

 

Blond

Banned
Why not just find a cheap but good iPad or Android tablet and use the remote play app + dualshock? Plus you'd get way more use out of it as well and would probably cost the same.
 

DunDunDunpachi

Patient MembeR
Ideal move for Sony would be a 4k tablet that has on-board processing power and can slide into a specialized VR headset.

Essentially, a Switch competitor that also functions as a PS VR2 unit.
 

yurinka

Member
I'd love to get a PS Vita revision with L2+R2+L3+R3 and the latest wifi tecnology (PS5 would have the same). I'd play the same PSVita/PSP/PSOne games and would be optimized thanks to a new chip for Remote Play with PS5 and PSNow.
 

Grinchy

Banned
I'd love to get a PS Vita revision with L2+R2+L3+R3 and the latest wifi tecnology (PS5 would have the same). I'd play the same PSVita/PSP/PSOne games and would be optimized thanks to a new chip for Remote Play with PS5 and PSNow.
I'd love that as well, but I'm still leaning more toward companion device. An actual dedicated handheld is nice, but as far as playing PS5 games through a Remote Play scenario, I have just always found RP to be lacking. It takes too long to even get the connection going, the quality has to drop to keep up, ect. It's just not ideal IMO.

But the Wii U gamepad used a very specialized form of wifi that had nothing to do with a network. The system talked to the gamepad in a high-speed low latency way and that was it. So you could be playing on your TV, grab the gamepad, and be still playing exactly where you left off.

And that's what I'd love to see for the PS5. Maybe someone is on the TV, so you grab the device out of the charging cradle, turn it on, and it's already booting up the game you had suspended without any delay. It would be like having an in-home PS5 Switch.
 
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jts

...hate me...
I'd love that as well, but I'm still leaning more toward companion device. An actual dedicated handheld is nice, but as far as playing PS5 games through a Remote Play scenario, I have just always found RP to be lacking. It takes too long to even get the connection going, the quality has to drop to keep up, ect. It's just not ideal IMO.

But the Wii U gamepad used a very specialized form of wifi that had nothing to do with a network. The system talked to the gamepad in a high-speed low latency way and that was it. So you could be playing on your TV, grab the gamepad, and be still playing exactly where you left off.

And that's what I'd love to see for the PS5. Maybe someone is on the TV, so you grab the device out of the charging cradle, turn it on, and it's already booting up the game you had suspended without any delay. It would be like having an in-home PS5 Switch.
It wouldn’t come cheap. With wifi, bluetooth, display, battery, full controls, an embedded system of sorts, we‘re looking at $100 minimum and that’s pie-in-the-sky already. Might as well go all the way and for $200 make a Vita 2.
 

Grinchy

Banned
It wouldn’t come cheap. With wifi, bluetooth, display, battery, full controls, an embedded system of sorts, we‘re looking at $100 minimum and that’s pie-in-the-sky already. Might as well go all the way and for $200 make a Vita 2.
For me, $100-150 does sound cheap for it.

People pay $90 just for a Switch dock lol
 

jts

...hate me...
For me, $100-150 does sound cheap for it.

People pay $90 just for a Switch dock lol
Yes the Switch dock is very expensive, but I’m not sure many people buy it? In any case, it exists, so I guess I see your point. Also a bit like the Xbox Elite Controller - something expensive for a few looking for to elevate the experience, and mass sales aren’t required for it to exist.

I feel like at this point we should have the Wii U display tech in a more standardized and widespread manner: a wireless, short range, low latency display tech, with increasing resolution/range/etc as it iterates and progresses. I know there are some tentatives of this (WiDi, etc) but I don’t see anything really taking off. That would help a lot in creating what you want.
 

Vawn

Banned
It would be like having a Switch, but instead of having a cell phone from 2015 powering your games, you have a PS5 doing it. So you can play on your TV whenever you want, or grab the sleek PS5 Pal out of the charging cradle and immediately continue your game while you spray Taco Bell diarrhea out of your asshole.

It would be awesome!

You mean RemotePlay? They have that device - it's called PS Vita.
 

Vawn

Banned
First post WORST post. The gamepad itself was a chunky plastic abomination, but the idea itself was absolutely solid. Playing Human Revolution and Wind Waker using the second screen to manage the inventory was fucking awesome.

Imagine how much better Breath of the Wild would have been. That game was designed around the Wii U game pad (Shiekah Slate). Being able to access food, switch tools, weapons, etc.

Shame they even gutted that functionality from the Wii U version to keep the Switch from looking inferior.

And it was also great as a in-home handheld. I even took it camping one time, plugged the Wii U into an A/C adapter at our site and played Windwaker in my tent.
 
First post WORST post. The gamepad itself was a chunky plastic abomination, but the idea itself was absolutely solid. Playing Human Revolution and Wind Waker using the second screen to manage the inventory was fucking awesome.
Nope, the idea disgust me about about as much as Kinect, there is little benefits in having the second screen, I always stare at the main one when the option is available. Second screen gaming was going to be a thing back in 2013, many games had side apps for tablets or smart phones, I had a Sega Dreamcast back in the day as well... Never ever used any of these options, it's a gimmick. However it's not nearly as bad as move controls in a general use scenario, they are false good ideas.

I admit I made my motivations a bit vague.
 

Vawn

Banned
Nope, the idea disgust me about about as much as Kinect, there is little benefits in having the second screen, I always stare at the main one when the option is available. Second screen gaming was going to be a thing back in 2013, many games had side apps for tablets or smart phones, I had a Sega Dreamcast back in the day as well... Never ever used any of these options, it's a gimmick. However it's not nearly as bad as move controls in a general use scenario, they are false good ideas.

I admit I made my motivations a bit vague.

You're forgetting the biggest benefit of the Wii U pad. Being able to use the console without a television. I used it around the house and even on trips, as long as I had access to an outlet.

And the word "gimmick" has gotten out of control. Something you aren't personally interested in (or haven't tried), doesn't make it a gimmick. This term is thrown around for way too many things.
 
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Nope, the idea disgust me about about as much as Kinect, there is little benefits in having the second screen, I always stare at the main one when the option is available. Second screen gaming was going to be a thing back in 2013, many games had side apps for tablets or smart phones, I had a Sega Dreamcast back in the day as well... Never ever used any of these options, it's a gimmick. However it's not nearly as bad as move controls in a general use scenario, they are false good ideas.

I admit I made my motivations a bit vague.

Did you play those games I mentioned on the Wii U?
 

Grinchy

Banned
You're forgetting the biggest benefit of the Wii U pad. Being able to use the console without a television. I used it around the house and even on trips, as long as I had access to an outlet.

And the word "gimmick" has gotten out of control. Something you aren't personally interested in (or haven't tried), doesn't make it a gimmick. This term is thrown around for way too many things.
Yeah I see a lot of "second screen" talk in here and I don't care about any of that. Having a giant tablet controller that just shows a game map is ok and all, but I would want this companion device doing more of what you're saying. It's for giving you a portable version of the PS5 around the house.

People could get crazy and take their PS5 on a plane with it if they wanted to, like this guy!

tSTGKUs.png
 
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Vawn

Banned
Yeah I see a lot of "second screen" talk in here and I don't care about any of that. Having a giant tablet controller that just shows a game map is ok and all, but I would want this companion device doing more of what you're saying. It's for giving you a portable version of the PS5 around the house.

People could get crazy and take their PS5 on a plane with it if they wanted to, like this guy!

tSTGKUs.png

I did similar things with my Wii U. This is assuming the PS5 is a reasonable size. I'm not going to attempt that with something the size of the Xbox Series X tower.
 
The iPad app is only a couple of steps away from being that now that it has native Bluetooth support so here’s hoping the next gen apps that interface with the consoles are better developed with that in mind
 

Grinchy

Banned
The iPad app is only a couple of steps away from being that now that it has native Bluetooth support so here’s hoping the next gen apps that interface with the consoles are better developed with that in mind
Even having to pair up your controller to your ipad, open the app, and wait for it to connect to your PS4 is going to keep most people away from doing it. I know it sounds lazy on paper, but it's just true. That shit is not convenient and after a handful of times, you're not really going to find yourself using it often.

A device always sitting in a charging cradle, always connected over a connection that's built only for this one purpose, is massively better. It literally turns your PS5 into a PS5 Switch without any degradation of game performance while playing in "handheld mode."
 

D.Final

Banned
Even having to pair up your controller to your ipad, open the app, and wait for it to connect to your PS4 is going to keep most people away from doing it. I know it sounds lazy on paper, but it's just true. That shit is not convenient and after a handful of times, you're not really going to find yourself using it often.

A device always sitting in a charging cradle, always connected over a connection that's built only for this one purpose, is massively better. It literally turns your PS5 into a PS5 Switch without any degradation of game performance while playing in "handheld mode."

True
 
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